Parent Time

With so much economic gloom and doom in the air, you might think that employers are cutting back on family-friendly benefits. But that thinking would be wrong. “The spread is continuing unabated,” says Richard Yerema, managing editor of Canada’s Top 100 Employers, the annual guide from which we derive our family-friendly employers. “We’re not seeing any pullback.” In fact, an increasing number of employers are adding even more options — like telecommuting or flexible hours. “It’s less of a unique thing because the technology and cost are not prohibitive,” says Yerema. Read on to discover what makes this year’s top 25 among Canada’s most family-friendly.

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Lacombe, Alta.
• parental leave top-up to 95% of salary for 17 weeks for moms, and to 95% of salary for 12 weeks for dads
• alternative work options include shortened workweeks, reduced summer hours and telecommuting

BC Public Service
Victoria
• alternative work options include telecommuting, reduced summer hours, variable scheduling and a full-pay 35-hour workweek
• on-site daycare at some locations
• offers 60 academic scholarships to children of employees

British Columbia Safety Authority
New Westminster, BC
• parental leave top-up to 85% of salary for 52 weeks for new moms, and to 85% of salary for 35 weeks for dads and adoptive parents
• covers child care costs for employees attending company events or on business trips

Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto
Toronto
• new moms can extend maternity leave for up to three years
• offers compassionate leave top-up to 70% of salary for six weeks

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Toronto
• maternity leave top-up to 100% of salary for the first two weeks for moms, followed by a top-up to 75% for 26 weeks
• parental leave top-up payments for new dads and adoptive parents

Originally published in Today's Parent, December 2009